


What Didn't Show

by tippens



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: And Continues To Get Away, Awkward Daryl, Daryl In Love, Don't Try To Tell Me Otherwise, Episode: s06e10 The Next World, F/F, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Insecure Daryl, Internalized Homophobia, It Needed To Be Said, M/M, Oblivious Rick, Poor Daryl, Slow Burn Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes, This Is How It Went, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, the one that got away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 23:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6350479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tippens/pseuds/tippens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detailing Daryl's vague reaction to Richonne.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Didn't Show

When Daryl found out about Rick and Michonne, he didn’t know what he felt. 

He kind of hated Jesus for creating the exposing situation. He hated himself for allowing Jesus get away to create it. But when he saw Rick standing there with nothing but pants on and Michonne standing behind him, he felt nothing. Not the kind of nothing that comes with carelessness. The kind of nothing that everyone had experienced on a leg or an arm. Daryl felt that on his heart. He wasn’t good with descriptions.

He’d been disappointed when Rick said they were brothers, but this was different. In the time between Lori’s death and now Daryl had started to see Rick differently. Suddenly, it was hard to look at him without noticing things only women were supposed to notice. 

Sometimes he just wanted to grab the back of his neck and kiss him and figure the rest out later.

Merle would have call him all sorts of derogatory names just for noting the beautiful shade of blue in Rick’s eyes. Daryl never did stop hearing Merle’s criticisms. Even in death, the big brother buzzed at his ears.

When he saw Rick clean shaven after they got to Alexandria,

_So you’re one a’ those Nancyboys now?_

on the whole road trip that threw Jesus in their path when Rick’s teasing felt charming,

_Someone oughta beat the fag outta you, kid._

and the almost audible crack of his heart when Michonne cozied up to him.

_See what you went and did to yerself? Better’ve learned your lesson, too._

When Abraham asked him how long they’d been a thing, Daryl tried not to care. He tried even harder to look like he didn’t care. They just _had_ to hold hands in front of everyone. In front of him. 

He was angry. At them. At himself. At the world for shoving it in his face every chance it got.

And he was happy. For them. For Carl. For Judith. Kids needed a mom and a dad. 

Even though Denise and Tara showed him that gays were just like any other couple and did sweet little innocent things for each other just like a guy and a girl, something still held him back.

While Daryl didn’t harbor those old fashioned hateful beliefs anymore, there was one prejudice that was hard to shake. Kids can’t have two dads. He didn’t know why. He didn’t care. He just knew.

So he waited. He bottled up. He buried his ‘feelings’ for so long. For the good of the kids.

But when he saw his Sheriff and the Samurai holding hands… 

Daryl regretted every second.


End file.
